Pachacamac, large pre-Columbian ruin located in the Lurin Valley on the central coast of present-day Peru. The earliest major occupation and construction of Pachacamac dates to the Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 bc–ad 600) and to a culture generally known as Early Lima (Maranga, Interlocking style). The terraced adobe pyramid and temple known as the Temple of Pachacamac belongs to this time and culture, and Pachacamac’s fame as the seat of an oracle probably began in the Early Intermediate Period. During the Middle Horizon (ad 600–1000) it continued as a major centre and place of pilgrimage and was probably the principal establishment of the Huari Empire on the coast. In late pre-Columbian times the Inca constructed the large Temple of the Sun at the site, and the Oracle of Pachacamac, to which the early Spanish explorers refer, probably was associated with a shrine in this temple. The shrine and temple were sacked by Francisco Pizarro’s soldiers during the Spanish conquest (c. 1532).

Learn More in these related articles:

(Latin oraculum from orare, “to pray,” or “to speak”), divine communication delivered in response to a petitioner’s request; also, the seat of prophecy itself. Oracles were a branch of divination but differed from the casual pronouncements of augurs by being...

Pachacamac, on the central coast, which survived until Inca times as a great temple and oracle, was established as a ceremonial centre by the beginning of the Middle Horizon. At that time it also became a considerable town, with a degree of independence in the Huari empire, as is demonstrated by the presence of its own local variety of coastal Huari pottery—distinguished by the frequent...

...Lima has been inhabited for thousands of years. Urban communities of significant size date from the pre-Inca Early Intermediate Period (c. 200 bce–600 ce), the most important being Pachacamac, which was an important religious site in both pre-Inca and Inca times. Much of the ransom demanded by the conquistador Francisco Pizarro for the Inca chief Atahuallpa (Atahualpa) was...